Appreciation - Aati Pema

In a beautiful village in Kerala, a boy named Ramananda was fast asleep with his head resting amongst the crumbled pages of his efforts to write a 'note' to himself. His parents were proud, and his friends saw him as an intelligent kid, but when he used to ask himself how he was, no reply would be there. At the young age of ten, he saw how people thought of him. With this in his mind, his consciousness would let him rest, so he pushed himself repeatedly. Even when the results were good, he got frustrated it did not get better, and he was never content with his work. Even his teachers began to notice and praise him openly, giving him a hollow sense of satisfaction that he feared might make him complacent. Though he now studied at a prestigious university and was still appreciated by everyone around him, he felt increasingly lost. 

Day in and day out, he would work to be better, but he had sacrificed the sense of oneness with himself, and thus he now felt lost, so he did the only thing he thought might help. He had begun to ask himself why he felt no sense of achievement and could not find fulfilment in his everyday life. Now he was lost, and on top of that, he had to answer his question. Neither did he see his own worth nor anyone else's, and began to progress without purpose. He was always aware of his thoughts, so his academics also declined. Only then did he see how good he was before and learn to appreciate his work. Having done so he was again that brilliant child that everyone admired now, having also grown in the sense of ethics. 

Only when we appreciate and be compassionate to ourselves will we understand others' company and not only just live but also be mindful of life. 

Aati Pema

Pestoalozzi Children's Village India

A letter to my future self - Aria Gupta

Image courtesy Getty Stock Images

Sec 104, Noida, Uttar Pradesh

A student from Gyanshree School

6 July 2023

Dear Future Aria Gupta

How are you doing?

Please read this when you're at college or have a job. This is you from the past, and I have tons of questions. Did your/my book get published? I hope it did; I've been working pretty hard on it. What job did I/you get (If I/you have one)? Is it boring? I hope it isn't. Are you/am I happy? I'll blame you if I'm not, even though I'm basically blaming myself.

Here's a list of things I never want to become

• A bully. What is good in ruining someone's self-esteem?

• A robber. No one wants to become this! 

• An introvert. I want to have many friends and be super social. Just know, no offence to those who are one.

• A drama queen. Ugh, I hate those people; they make the most significant problem out of the most minor things.

If you are any of those things, I'm warning you in advance, then guilt will take control of you!

Anyways, do you think I’m stupid and immature? It’s totally fine if you do. Just kidding, no way I’ll forgive that. I don’t care that much if someone says bad things about me, but not myself!

Got to go now! Bye!

Your Past self

10-year-old Aria Gupta (Grade 6)

Appreciation - Tenzin Jambey

Image courtesy Pestalozzi World website.

Regarding appreciation, the image of people clapping for you and words like thanks and thank you come into our minds. Almost every people appreciate others by saying thanks and thank you. Some people think that only getting the word of thanks from others is an application, but I don't think about it that way.

Regarding my application work, I have done numerous good jobs. Whenever I do any good job or something, I first appreciate myself because it doesn't bring me any sadness or down feeling because of not being appreciated for my good work by someone; we should be the first to enjoy ourselves if we do any kind of work. Doing an excellent job in the presence of someone can be seen, and others might praise you for that, but being yourself without anyone's presence is a different thing; at that moment, there is no one to clap for you, and that's the moment when we should pat on our back for doing a good job. We should be good and kind to all humans, but what about plants and animals? They, too, have the right to live a long peaceful life. Humans are taking so much from nature and animals; in return, we are doing nothing helpful but destroying, killing and taking their life.

We should be kind to the plants and all the animals around us; in the hostel, I have planted varieties of flowers and plants since I am so attached to nature and the environment, and sometimes I water them in the evening. When I see that the soil level is unequal, I add soil and organic fertilizer like cow dung and decomposed vegetable peals. After returning from my vacation, I found that the plants had dried, and some had even died. I felt sad about that as I cared for them with my heart, I watered them, and the next day I saw them growing again, which thrilled me. No one appreciated me, as none saw me doing that, but when I appreciated myself, I heard the soundless appreciation of my plants and flowers. As the wind blew, they began to move, and I imagined they were dancing and singing with joy because I had watered them after so long.

We must come out of the mindset that being only kind to a human does not bring us appreciation, we must equally respect our mother earth and all the components of nature like air, water, land, soil, fire and even the dumb stones that stays in a fixed position and says nothing but we use it for many purposes.

Tenzin Jambey
Pestalozzi Children's Village India

How can we develop self-control?

Self-control can be developed primarily through practice and exercise.

To have self-control in life, it's essential to avoid temptations, have a goal in life so that we can work hard to archive it, do daily exercises, rest, get good sleep at night and many more. Having patience and understanding towards people's emotions is also required.

 Yunika Pokharel

Positive Attitude In Life - Sulochana Rana

Positive people can maintain a broader perspective and see the big picture, which helps them find solutions.  

We will get the following things if we have a positive attitude in our life:-

• Happiness
• Self-confidence
• Strong Immune System
• More focus

We can get a positive attitude by loving ourselves, giving time to ourselves, practising meditation, Listening to music and looking at the bright side after getting laid off.

Sulochana Rana

sr@learningforward.org.in

Spreading the joy of learning at My Good School.

Image source: https://possibilitiesunlimited.com/how-to-feel-more-positive-and-energized/

Self-realization - Rishona Chopra

Do you know yourself?
When we are asked about our weaknesses and strengths, don't we take quite a long time to understand ourselves? We try so hard to understand others but do we honestly appreciate ourselves? 
The human brain is full of complexities and thoughts that we, too, fail to understand. We need to understand our passion, our capability and to what extent can we reach.

I was asked who I was,
And there was a pause,
A long stretch of silence,
I was thinking as if it was science.
I realised I fail to understand who I am,
Did I have the ability to pass a challenging exam?
I needed to understand by ability,
Years pass by,
I still don't appreciate my being.

Rishona Chopra
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Today Is The Day When You Define For Yourself - Arav Agarwal

Reflection of the chapter Today Is The Day When You Define For Yourself from the book My Good School ~ Where Passion Meets Education by Sandeep Dutt.

I was really inspired after reading the chapter - Today Is the Day When You Define for Yourself. The chapter is about decision making, and every day we have a choice to choose the wisest option for ourselves. The line with which I connected deeply was that whenever you make decisions listen to your inner voice to make the right decision. Also, the counsellor we need for counselling is our inner self, which helps us act as a counsellor; we only have to start listening to it.

There have been many times when I also had to make decisions and choose for myself. As I reflect back, I think it has helped me become better and more confident. What I have learned is that when we make choices, we should be kind enough to think about ourselves and others. And this will keep us happy.

Name: Arav Agarwal

Grade: 5C

Billabong High International School, Thane

Empathy - Anusha Jain

Anusha Jain, IX-D, Ahlcon Public School
I am very fond of reading, and Harry Potter is my favourite series.

My Empathy Collage

The highest form of knowledge is Empathy. It is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another, feeling with the heart of another. Empathy is an action we take to benefit someone after keeping ourselves in someone else's shoes. It will help to shape a more civil society and a humane world. 

The concept of Empathy is not limited to other humans. Empathy towards nature, our surroundings, our animals, and, most importantly, towards ourselves is essential. My collage below is all about my feelings and emotions related to Empathy.

Self Respect - Jiya Vaishnav

Self-Respect refers to loving oneself and behaving with honour and dignity. It reflects respect for oneself. An individual who has self-respect would treat himself with honour. Furthermore, lacking self-respect is a matter of disgrace. An individual who does not respect himself should certainly not expect respect from others. The person who values his self-respect will respect others. He would never want to hurt anybody with his words or actions. We should treat others the way we want to be treated. 

Self-respect develops inner strength and courage to speak for yourself. It also makes us realize how important it is to treat others with respect. It helps us to become more thoughtful in our behaviour.

Jiya Vaishnav

Class II

The Fabindia School